Peter Travers
Peter Joseph Travers (born June 27, 1943) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts the film interview program Popcorn with Peter Travers for ABC News.
Peter Travers | |
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 Travers in 2008 | |
| Born | Peter Joseph Travers June 27, 1943 |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1970–present |
| Spouses |
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| Children | 3 |
Peter Joseph Travers (born June 27, 1943)[1][2][3] is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts the film interview program Popcorn with Peter Travers for ABC News.
Early life and education
[edit]Travers grew up in Yonkers, New York,[4] the son of Howard and Ruth Travers.[5] He received a BA degree from Manhattan College in 1965 before graduating from New York University with an MA in English.[6][7]
Career
[edit]According to eFilmCritic.com, Travers is the nation's most "blurbed" film critic.[8] Travers' blurbs were being printed in newspapers as early as 1970, when he was a writer for Reader's Digest.[9] By the mid-1970s, he was a film critic for The Herald Statesman, a Yonkers newspaper.[10] In the 1980s, he wrote for People for four years before joining Rolling Stone in 1989.[11] In 2020, he departed Rolling Stone and became the film critic for ABC News.[12]
Travers hosts the New York Film Critics Series, a company that hosts live-streamed screening events and discussions,[13] as well as the ABC News show Popcorn with Peter Travers, where he interviews actors and directors about the latest projects and their lives.[14]
Personal life
[edit]Travers married Diane Harris of White Plains, New York, in 1967; the marriage ended in divorce.[3][15] In 1980, Travers married Robyn Lee Reeves, an actress and graduate of Vassar College, in an Episcopalian ceremony.[3] He has three children: Jennifer, David and Alex.[16]
Preferences
[edit]Favorites
[edit]In 2010, when asked to rank the best films of the 2000s decade, Travers named:[17]
- 1. There Will Be Blood (2007)
- 2. Children of Men (2006)
- 3. Mulholland Drive (2001)
- 4. A History of Violence (2005)
- 5. No Country for Old Men (2007)
- 6. The Incredibles (2004)
- 7. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
- 8. The Departed (2006)
- 9. Mystic River (2003)
- 10. The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003)
Best of the year
[edit]As a film critic for People, Rolling Stone, and ABC, Travers has named these films the best of the year:
- 1989 - Do the Right Thing
- 1990 - Goodfellas
- 1991 - The Silence of the Lambs
- 1992 - The Player
- 1993 - Short Cuts
- 1994 - Pulp Fiction
- 1995 - Get Shorty
- 1996 - The People vs. Larry Flynt
- 1997 - Titanic
- 1998 - The Truman Show
- 1999 - American Beauty
- 2000 - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
- 2001 - Memento (Indie list) and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Hollywood list)[18]
- 2002 - Gangs of New York
- 2003 - Mystic River
- 2004 - Sideways
- 2005 - A History of Violence
- 2006 - The Departed
- 2007 - No Country for Old Men
- 2008 - Milk
- 2009 - Precious
- 2010 - The Social Network
- 2011 - Drive
- 2012 - The Master
- 2013 - 12 Years a Slave
- 2014 - Boyhood
- 2015 - Spotlight
- 2016 - La La Land
- 2017 - Dunkirk
- 2018 - Roma
- 2019 - The Irishman
- 2020 - Da 5 Bloods
- 2021 - The Power of the Dog
- 2022 - Everything Everywhere All at Once
- 2023 - Killers of the Flower Moon and Oppenheimer[19]
- 2024 - The Brutalist
- 2025 - One Battle After Another
References
[edit]- ^ "Births". The Herald Statesman. July 2, 1943. p. 9. Retrieved February 20, 2025.
Travers—To Howard and Ruth Wolsey Travers...June 27, a son, Peter.
- ^ "Picks and Pans Review: Lollipop Dragon: The Great Christmas Race". People. December 21, 1987. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
Peter Travers, 43, agrees: 'I couldn't stand it.'
- ^ a b c "P.J. Travers Weds Robyn Lee Reeves". The New York Times. September 28, 1980. p. 68.
- ^ Travers, Peter (March 31, 2020). "Movie Love in the Time of the Coronavirus". Rolling Stone. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
- ^ "He Provides Background on 'Exorcist'". The Herald Statesman. Yonkers, New York. November 20, 1974. p. 7.
- ^ "43 Yonkers Men Win Degrees at Riverdale's Manhattan College". The Herald Statesman. Yonkers, New York. June 9, 1965. p. 56.
- ^ "Peter Travers Official Biography". ABC News. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018.
- ^ Childress, Erik. "Criticwatch 2008 - The Whores of the Year". eFilmCritic.com. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
- ^ "One of the Year's 10 Best!". The New York Daily News. December 29, 1970. p. 57.
- ^ Travers, Peter (November 9, 1976). "Star of 'Sarah' Visits Westchester". The Herald Statesman. Yonkers, New York. p. 21.
- ^ "New York Film Critics Circle: Peter Travers". New York Film Critics Circle. Archived from the original on April 27, 2006. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
- ^ Friedman, Roger (September 8, 2020). "Exclusive: Peter Travers Exits Rolling Stone after 36 Years as Chief Film Critic, Made Magazine Important in Hollywood: 'It's been a hell of a ride'". Showbiz 411. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
- ^ "NY Film Critics Series". Nyfilmcriticsseries.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015.
- ^ "Popcorn". ABC News. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
- ^ "Peter J. Travers". The Herald Statesman. Yonkers, New York. July 7, 1967. p. 32.
- ^ "Ruth Travers Obituary". Legacy. March 10, 2006. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ "10 Best Movies of the Decade". Rolling Stone. December 3, 2010. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
- ^ Travers, Peter (December 27, 2001). "The Best of 2001". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
- ^ Travers, Peter (December 26, 2023). "Review: The 10 best movies of 2023". ABC News. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
